In the games

Blaine's title is "The Hotheaded Quiz Master." His strategy is to incinerate challengers with his rough and ready Fire-type Pokémon. To reach Blaine, challengers have to answer a series of quiz questions about Pokémon. Blaine only takes off his sunglasses when thinking up new quiz questions.

When he once got lost in a treacherous, freezing mountain range, he was guided out of the mountains by a Moltres. Apparently, this is what inspired him to train Fire-type Pokémon. Blaine is a native of Cinnabar Island, and has lived there since before the Pokémon Lab was built. He is apparently on good terms with Mr. Fuji.

In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, and their remakes, the volcano on Cinnabar Island erupted, destroying the town, and leaving Blaine and his Pokémon homeless. Blaine relocated his Gym to the Seafoam Islands, and remains there a whole year after the volcanic eruption back on Cinnabar. He plans to rebuild his Gym one day.

He is able to be rebattled in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, after collecting his number at any time on Tuesday. He is found on Cinnabar Island. A call to him on Tuesday afternoon will arrange a rematch. In HeartGold and SoulSilver, Blaine has added Gym Trainers and a puzzle to the Gym, unlike in Gold and Silver where Blaine stood alone in a small room.

"Waaah! My Gym in Cinnabar burned down. My fire-breathing Pokémon and I are homeless because of the volcano. Waaah! But I'm back in business as a Gym Leader here in this cave. If you can beat me, I'll give you a Badge. Ha! You'd better have Burn Heal!"

"Awesome. I've burned out... You've earned Volcano badge!"

"I did lose this time, but I'm going to win the next time. When I rebuild my Cinnabar Gym, we'll have to have a rematch."

"Hey, you! My Gym on Cinnabar Island was burned down by the eruption! But I will not give up! Take a look at this cave. We have turned it into a Gym, and I am still acting as a Gym Leader! I will give you the Gym Badge if you manage to defeat me! Are you ready? Here we go!"

After sending out last Pokémon

"I'll show you the spirit of my cave Gym!"

During battle

"We can still do it!"

When defeated

"My spirit has not been defeated!"

After being defeated

"Awesome. I have burned out... Take this Volcano Badge!"

"Here, I will give you this, too. It's called Overheat! It has a slight drawback, but it's powerful and well worth it!"

"I did lose this time, but I'm going to win next time. When I rebuild my Cinnabar Gym, we have to hold a rematch."

In the anime

Blaine ran the Cinnabar Island Gym until the island started to become crowded with tourists. Instead of serious challengers, the Cinnabar Island Pokémon Center started to fill up with freeloading vacationers. Fed up with this, Blaine closed the Gym and opened up a hotel near the island's volcanic hot springs, disguising himself with a wig, a fake mustache and sunglasses. He also disguised his voice to be softer and lower pitched than normal. Blaine likes to make up riddles even in inappropriate situations.

When Ash, Misty, and Brock met Blaine, he told them several riddles. Misty deciphered the riddles and eventually the trio found Blaine's hotel, and underneath the hotel in a volcanic cavern was the Cinnabar Island Gym. Ash challenged Blaine to a Gym match, but was easily defeated. After the battle, Team Rocket attempted to steal Blaine's Magmar by freezing it with guns that projected beams of ice. Magmar broke free in the end; however, the sudden cooling of the walls in the lava cave caused the rock to begin to crack, indicating that the Cinnabar Island volcano was going to erupt.

Ash, Blaine, Misty, and Brock used their Water-, Rock-, and Fire-type Pokémon to dam the cracks in the walls with boulders. During the emergency, Ash's Charizard and Blaine's Magmar gained an interest in the other's strength, each wishing to test it in battle. Blaine agreed to a rematch with Ash; due to the internal damage of the volcano, it was held on the volcano's crater. At first, Magmar and Charizard were evenly matched, but Charizard's ability to fly gave it an advantage. It lifted Magmar high into the air and used Seismic Toss, slamming Magmar into the volcano. The Spitfire Pokémon was knocked out, and Blaine was defeated.

Pokémon

Ninetales was Blaine's first Pokémon used in his battle with Ash. Despite its beautiful looks, Ninetales proved to be an incredibly powerful Pokémon, knocking out Ash's Squirtle with a single attack. Ninetales was recalled when Ash sent out his Charizard. It reappeared in a flashback in Volcanic Panic.

After Ash chose Charizard in his battle, Blaine countered it by choosing Rhydon. Charizard refused to fight the Ground-type Pokémon, so Rhydon went up against Pikachu in its place. Blaine doubted the Electric-type could defeat Rhydon, but Ash encouraged Pikachu to use Rhydon's horn as a conductor of electricity that eventually caused its defeat. This battle sparked a now well-known Internet meme in the Pokémon fandom, as Rhydon is usually immune to Electric-type attacks.

Magmar is Blaine's final Pokémon and his powerhouse. In the first battle, Magmar easily defeated Ash's Pikachu. After the battlefield was wrecked due to Team Rocket's influence, Magmar and Ash's Charizard ended up gaining a respect for each other and wanted to test their strengths against one another. This was done in Ash's rematch with Blaine on top of Cinnabar's volcano. However, despite Magmar's powerful attacks including Fire Blast, Charizard managed to come out on top.

Voice actors

In the manga

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Blaine and Erika

Blaine was a former member of Team Rocket, joining because of his interest in science and conducting experiments on some of Red's future Pokémon, namely Gyarados and Eevee. He was first seen (albeit without a speaking role), studying and generating Mewtwo under the Rocket Game Corner. But after hearing of Red's clashes with Team Rocket, like protecting Mew from them, Blaine left, attempting to make up for his evil deeds. When Red reached Cinnabar Island, Blaine was under attack by members of Team Rocket and their newly captured Moltres, on loan from Sabrina.

Blaine had his Rapidash carry Red to his Pokémon Lab, while Red let Blaine use his Gyarados to hold off Moltres in return. At the Pokémon Lab, Red was able to revive an Aerodactyl from a fossil. Aerodactyl helped rescue Blaine and defeat Moltres.

Later, Blaine asked Red to help him in Cerulean Cave. While he was working under Team Rocket, Blaine combined some of Mew's DNA with his own to create a hybrid Pokémon named Mewtwo. Some of Blaine's hand was infected with Mewtwo's DNA, and thus he was able to track the synthetic Pokémon. Because of this, Team Rocket attempted to abduct Blaine to review Mewtwo's whereabouts. Using the Master Ball, Red was able to capture Mewtwo for Blaine after Blaine tried and was seriously injured in the process. This is when Blaine revealed why he quit Team Rocket. He saw Red's compassion for Pokémon in the Rocket Game Corner and it made Blaine realize that he created two monsters, Mewtwo and himself. He then decided that he didn't care what Team Rocket would do to him, but rather that he needed to catch Mewtwo and help it. It was then suggested by Red that he needed to show Mewtwo compassion because all that it knew about humans was cruelty and arrogance.

The psychic bond between Mewtwo and Blaine limited them both. If they were apart for too long, both would begin to become ill. Blaine worked for several years trying to find a way to sever the bond without hurting either of them. He then appeared during the Yellow chapter as one of the "Good" Gym Leaders of Kanto. After Super Nerd Miles was defeated, he used Growlithe's Odor Sleuth and deduced that Red must have been at Mt. Moon. When Miles was being lifted away by Agatha and her Gastly Blaine tried to use Growlithe's Fire Blast to knock it out, only for it to almost kill a Caterpie had Yellow not saved it.

He was then seen back on Cinnabar Island training with Camper Evan using Mewtwo to practice their connection using a disguise. Yellow then finds out that it was Blaine and that he was simply wearing a disguise because he didn't know who was watching. He then hears a message from Brock reporting that he found an ice sculpture of Red in Mt. Moon. He then travels to Cerise Island with Yellow (albeit by different routes) and Mewtwo, revealing that that was what they were training for. He then runs into Blue and sees several Pokémon, believing them to belong to the Elite Four, but actually belonging to Lt. Surge, Koga, and Sabrina.

During the Cerise Island incident, Sabrina's Spoons of Destiny paired Blaine and Yellow together in the fight against the Elite Four. They intruded on Lt. Surge and Bill's battle with Bruno. They were blocked out by a strange barrier, however, and were kept out since Bruno did not wish for anyone to interfere with their battle. Together, they confronted Lance. However, the bond between Mewtwo and Blaine proved to be their undoing, and they were defeated, leaving Yellow to face Lance alone.

Later, during the Masked Man's plot in Johto, Entei chose Blaine to be its partner. The healing power of Entei's flames was finally able to cut the link between Mewtwo and Blaine, and the two were free to live their lives apart from each other. Yet, Blaine's corroding hand still served as a reminder of his past with Mewtwo, as demonstrated in the FireRed and LeafGreen chapter when Mewtwo was facing off against Deoxys.

Although he's serious for most situations, he also had his comical moments. Blaine had his mustache burnt when he was training and had to use fake ones. Sometimes, he may also use riddles to lighten up the dark atmosphere.

Pokémon

This listing is for Blaine's Pokémon in the Pokémon Adventures manga.

Growlithe ♂

Growlithe is Blaine's Pokémon that was usually seen in searches. He first used it to find the cloth of Super Nerd Miles after he got possessed by a Gastly.

Rapidash is Blaine's mode of transportation. He first used it to battle the Moltres that Team Rocket had captured with little success, and had it help Red reach his laboratory, where an Aerodactyl could be resurrected from the Old Amber he had acquired earlier.

Released

Mewtwo was created by Blaine in a Team Rocket hideout using a small sample of Mew's DNA and Blaine's own. After it was fully cultivated in the Pokémon Lab on Cinnabar Island, it went berserk and demolished the place before settling in the Cerulean Cave (where it wreaked havoc in the northwestern sector of Cerulean City). Eventually, Red caught word of it and reached the cave out of curiosity before nearly being killed in its psychic tornado. Blaine made a valiant attempt to kill it at all costs, knowing that if he, the only one with the ability to function as a "Mewtwo Radar" was defeated, the world could come to an end. Although this succeeded in eliminating its tornado, the mutant itself still survived, only to be caught with a Master Ball that was thrown by Red in an ingenious maneuver. Mewtwo then went on to be a trained Pokémon belonging to Blaine and fought against Lance in the Yellow chapter, though Blaine's failing health held it back from winning. After it was released a year later, it partnered up with Red much later on to free Deoxys from Giovanni's hands.

Blaine was chosen by Entei to be partnered up for his extensive knowledge of the Fire-type. In return, it offered its help in erasing the painful genetic connection between him and Mewtwo, allowing it to finally be freed. After Blaine, Misty, and Lt. Surge had been injured fighting the Masked Man in Indigo Plateau, it was partnered up with Silver instead, and went back to the wild after the villain was defeated.

In the Pokémon Zensho manga

Blaine appears in Cinnabar Island. He tells Satoshi about his Gym on Cinnabar. Satoshi meets up with him and they have a battle. Blaine uses Arcanine and Satoshi uses Charmeleon which results in Satoshi winning the battle. As a result, his Charmeleon starts to evolve into a Charizard. Blaine explains that he was in Seafoam Islands and his Fire Pokémon were hurt. While he was there, he remembers seeing Articuno fly away. Blaine uses his Charizard to capture the Articuno that has been flying around the island.

Articuno is a Legendary Bird Pokémon that flew by to Cinnabar. After Satoshi's Gym battle with Blaine, Blaine decides that he wants to capture it so he has Satoshi help him out. It was a tough fight between Satoshi and Articuno as it was able to freeze his Pikachu but it was taken out by Jigglypuff's Sing, allowing for Blaine to catch it.

Cards

Blaine's PokémonCards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format.Cards listed with a silver background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats.

Trivia

Although Magmar appears as Blaine's signature Pokémon in the anime, he only has one in Generations II and IV, with it not even appearing in his Gym team in Yellow (which went as far as giving Lt. Surge only Raichu to mimic the anime).

This may be due to the fact that Riddle Me This aired only a month prior to the release of Pokémon Yellow, by which point Yellow was likely in the final stages of production.

This is somewhat circumvented in HeartGold and SoulSilver where in the first match he has a Magmar and in the rematch he has a Magmortar as his signature Pokémon.

In HeartGold and SoulSilver, he is one of two Gym Leaders who in the rematches does not have any items on any of their Pokémon (the other being Jasmine).

Despite the Arcanine evolutionary line being his signature Pokémon in Generation I and III, Arcanine is no longer in his party in Generation II and its remakes.

Even when the player battles Blaine in a rematch, he still references his "Cave Gym" as if the battle's taking place there.

Blaine is the only Gym Leader to have a Gym in two different locations.

Design differences

Blaine's anime disguise

Blaine has two separate character designs. The first one is from early Sugimori artwork for Pokémon Red and Green Versions. He is depicted as a bald man with light red hair to the back and side of his head, with no mustache and no sunglasses wearing beach clothes. The old design was reused in the anime (as Blaine's real look) and very briefly in the Pokémon Adventures manga (as a disguise after his mustache was burned).

Later, in Pokémon Blue and outside-Japan Pokémon Red and Blue Versions the artwork was revised and he started to be depicted as an older man with a mustache, and no hair on his head, wearing sunglasses and labcoat. Despite the artwork changes, his new design was used in all Generation I main series games, including the Pokémon Red and Green Versions. This means that Blaine's design was probably changed very late in the production of Red and Green, since his official artwork and his in-game sprite are completely different portrayals.

The reasons for changing the design is unknown; however, the Fame Checker in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen explains why he doesn't always wear sunglasses: "Blaine is said to remove his dark shades only when he is thinking up new quiz questions."

In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Blaine is shown wearing a hat. He wears more sophisticated clothing than his previous lab coat. He also sports a cane that resembles a question mark.

Names

Language

Name

Origin

Japanese

カツラ Katsura

The Japanese name for the Japanese Judas tree. Katsura is also a word for "wig" (鬘). From 火 ka ("fire").